On Saturday, March 18, 2019, day two of EDC Las Vegas much disappointment came to festival goers. Due to high winds many people were evacuated from the venue. This weather occurrence on the festival grounds lead to the closing of two out of nine stages, Kinetic Field and Quantum Stage one of which was the main stage. The three-day electronic dance music festival was expected to draw about 150,000 attendees each day.

Festival workers evacuate and shut down the Kinetic stage due to high winds during night 2 of EDC, Saturday May 18, 2019.

Artists Shows Cancelled or Cut Short

With both Tiësto and Martin Garrix’s sets being cut short and many more being cancelled entirely. The issues began towards the end of Tiësto’s set when stage crews and screens (pictured below) at the Kinetic Field began announcing “Evacuate To Shelter”. At that time various sets were still ongoing including Martin Garrix on the Circuit Grounds and NGHTMRE on Cosmic Meadow.

We are experiencing high winds and as a precaution have shut down a couple of stages at this time. We are actively monitoring the situation but we are not evacuating the venue.

“We are experiencing high winds and as a precaution have shut down a couple of stages at this time,” read a tweet sent out by EDC at 2:14 AM. “We are actively monitoring the situation but we are not evacuating the venue.”

Hi Headliners! You may re-enter the venue if you have already left. We are not shutting down the entire venue, only a few stages. Please let us know if you have any issues re-entering the festival and we will work swiftly to get you back in.

The Las Vegas Valley was under wind advisories from 12:00 AM until 8:00 PM Sunday. The winds were expected to blow between 25-30 mph, and possibly gusts at 50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The Festival Goers Who Evacuated

In addition to finding that out that the stages were temporarily closed, festival goers thought that meant that the entire festival was shut down. Not only were they disappointed, completely soaked and freezing but they left the Las Vegas Motor Speedway back to their hotels at this time and vented their frustrations on social media. EDC re-assured them that if they returned they would have no issues getting back into the festival grounds. Check out why medical staff is important at festivals here.

“The safety of all Headliners, staff and crew is our top priority. In conjunction with public safety officials, we will continue to monitor the weather and take the necessary precautions to ensure our Headliners have a safe and fun experience at EDC Las Vegas.”

However, they did not explain how the confusion happened on Saturday night. Nor whether anyone can receive a refund.

History Repeating Itself

This is not the first time that EDC Las Vegas has been forced to evacuate due to weather advisories. In 2012, a similar situation occured when a sandstorm blew through the event. The festival organizers were forced to pull the plug and evacuate the stages. This was a disappointment to attendees that were attending specifically to see Kaskade, whose set was interrupted. At the time, attendees were evacuated to Kinteic Field and Cosmic Meadow stages, where the festival continued to the best it could for the night.

Nevertheless, the third and final day and night of the festival was reported to have been without incident. Thus, one can be sure EDC Las Vegas 2020 maintains an attitude of “the show must go on.”